Friday, September 12, 2008

Area Moms Dust Off Cheerleading Gear for Retro Game

Four Georgetown moms will be picking up their pom-poms for a Toronto Argonauts game Friday.

Michelle Armstrong, Kim Auty, Loretta Cordick and Diane Shipley-Kardash, all longtime Georgetown residents, will be part of the halftime show at the Argos-Winnipeg Blue Bombers game at 7 p.m.

The alumni cheerleaders are performing to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Argo Sunshine Girls.

All four ladies are former Toronto Argo Cheerleaders. Shipley-Kardash was on the team from 1987-1991, Armstrong 1989-1992, Cordick 1990-1992 and Auty spent one year on the team in 1989 before cheering for the Ottawa Roughriders in 1990.

Fifty former Argo Cheerleaders will be dancing to These Boots are Made For Walking, choreographed by Linda Googh.

Argo Cheerleaders representing all 15 years they were a team (1978 to 1993) will be taking part in the celebration. The team started weekly rehearsals in late June to be ready for the game. Girls from as far away as Singapore, Los Angeles and Vancouver have flown in for rehearsals in Toronto.

The Canadian Football League game has a “retro” theme. There will be former Argo players at the game as well, wearing their old jerseys and the “All Time Argo” will be named to the Football Hall of Fame.

Shipley-Kardash, who was on the team the longest, says she still considers several of her former teammates her closest life-long friends and has traveled to Florida, Las Vegas and Los Angeles many times to reunite with former teammates.

The ladies are all married moms in their early forties who moved to Georgetown in the ’90’s from others parts of the GTA. Combined they have nine children, all students in Georgetown ranging in age from 7-15. Auty and Shipley-Kardash have sons who play football in Georgetown. All four have daughters dancing at local dance studios.

Auty and her husband Paul own Georgetown Chrysler while Shipley-Kardash, an actress, has performed with Georgetown Little Theatre and Georgetown Globe Productions. Cordick recently returned to work part time at a local law firm and Armstrong is a teacher at Georgetown District High School.